Some schools like federal 'grades,' others disappointed The Arizona Republic
Sept. 9, 2005
Betty Reid
Some educators celebrated and others expressed disappointment in urban Phoenix
after they viewed the federal government's report card of which Arizona schools
received passing grades in 2005.

A record number, 16 campuses of 20, in the Cartwright School District passed the
federal government's Adequate Yearly Progress standards released on Sept. 1. Ten
schools in the Isaac School District also passed, including one campus that was
on the cusp of facing severe corrective action. Twelve schools in the Roosevelt
School District received passing marks.

"It represents the results that you are going to have when everybody works
together in a prescriptive way in order to meet our educational needs," Martinez
said. "We made some efforts to look closely at our subgroups and really worked
hard on our intervention strategies."

One measure of schools the federal government uses when giving pass or fail
grades is to place some children in subgroups based on ethnicity and family
income. English-language learners and special-education students make up other
subgroups. Each group must show progress annually for a campus to pass.

Schools that fail four years in a row are subject to state intervention. It
could lead to changes in curriculum and outside help.

At least 384 Arizona schools failed federal standards; that is 65 more schools
than a year ago, when 319 campuses did not pass.

In Arizona, 176 schools are appealing a potential failing status but have yet to
receive an official label. Information about the status of these schools will be
released this month.

Then there are schools, like Isaac's Carl T. Smith Middle School and five
campuses in Roosevelt, that flunked AYP. Roosevelt's five campuses are C.J.
Jorgensen, C.O. Greenfield, Cesar Chavez Community, Sierra Vista and V.H.
Lassen.

The status of the five Roosevelt schools, many on the failing list for the first
time, mystified district officials. Lassen, for example, made gains on Arizona's
Instrument to Measure Standards, another measure used for AYP.

"While we are pleased to see that many of our schools have received passing
grades on the federal standards this year, it is surprising that some of our
very best schools, including some that have recently posted dramatic gains on
the AIMS test, have now failed to make AYP," said Perry Baker, a spokesman for
the Roosevelt School District.

At least 10 of 12 schools in the Isaac School District received passing grades,
including Pueblo Del Sol Middle School, a school that dropped into corrective
action in 2004 after failing AYP four times. The school changed principals
twice, created a new curriculum and installed a before- and after-school
tutoring program.